Making choices is something we all do every day, but when it comes to deciding things at work we need to learn to be decisive. This is because it can make us reliable and trustworthy leaders. You can learn to be decisive by starting small, trusting your gut, and remembering that mistakes are just as useful as doing things right.
Key Takeaways
- Being decisive is something you can practice and learn to do. Decisiveness is not something everyone is born with, but by putting yourself in situations that require the skill you can learn to understand it.
- A decisive person is someone who trusts that whatever choice they land on is the right one for them at that time, and with the information they have available.
- Someone who is decisive in the workplace inspires confidence and trust, which in turn helps build rapport and connection.
What does being decisive mean?
The word decisive itself means the ability to make choices in a quick yet firm way. It basically means that you’re able to take a stand when making choices and trust in your ability to make the right decision.
It’s not about being right (in fact, a lot of the time the choice might actually end up being wrong), but about trusting in yourself and not leaving room for second-guessing.
How can being decisive help you at work?
Being decisive at work can help you build trust and rapport with both your team and your superiors. How? By showcasing your ability to trust yourself.
Decisiveness helps you waste less time thinking and having anxiety and more time taking a stand in front of other people. The more confident you look the more competent and trustworthy you’ll be. It also gives you more time and space to focus your energy on other things like achieving goals and completing business-related plans.
In the end, learning how to be decisive at work can help you become a great leader that can guide your team through any hurdle.
How can being decisive help you in your personal life?
Anxiety runs rampant across society nowadays, and so the ability to be decisive in your personal life (not only at work) can ensure you’re not stressed and worried all the time. This is because fear of the unknown is at the heart of anxiety, and being decisive encourages the opposite feeling.
Learning how to be decisive can help you be more productive, procrastinate less, and give us the peace of mind we need to go about life.
Tips and tricks on how to be more decisive
While the idea of being decisive is a great one, sometimes figuring out what this looks like in practice can be a bit more complicated. So, we wanted to share 4 tips and tricks you can start using today to learn decisiveness.
Make it a habit
There’s nothing better for learning than practicing something. When you practice something enough times it basically becomes a habit. The reason for this is that the more you do it the less of a struggle it becomes. But, what does this look like in real life? It looks like starting with smaller choices (like what to eat for lunch that day) and slowly moving up to bigger situations (like if you should give your upset customer free product or not).
Visualize the solution
The power of visualization shouldn’t be something you have as an afterthought. Take the time to look over each solution option in front of you, and then try to imagine what the outcome will look like after you’ve picked each one. Take into account all the information you have available at the time, and then choose the option you think is the best. Remember that it’s not about choosing the correct option, but about just choosing.
Defeat your fear
There’s nothing more powerful than working on overcoming those things that scare you. We all know decisions mean change and that change scares people because of the unknown that’s waiting for them on the other side. But, did you know that this type of fear is a common human reaction that stems back to prehistoric times? It’s hardwired in our brain in order to protect ourselves from predators or things that could hurt us. Today, however, those dangers are few and far between. And, making a choice can actually give you back some control as opposed to letting the pieces fall into place on their own.
Forget being perfect
Have you ever heard the saying “perfect is the enemy of good”? It’s because the possibility of something not being perfect can cause you to freeze and not make a choice at all. Always remember that perfection doesn’t exist in the first place, and so getting comfortable with making mistakes is the best practice you can take on. In fact, you can probably learn more from making mistakes than if you made the right choice in the first place.
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Related Readings
Getting People Right (GPR) is an educational website providing professionals from all types of businesses with practical education in entrepreneurial leadership. To keep evolving your leadership toolkit, additional GPR resources below will be useful:
- Your Most Important Decisions
- Logical Fallacies: What Are They And How Do They Affect How You Think?
- How To Facilitate An Effective Meeting
